Commonwealth Chair-in-Office

Chair-in-Office of the
Commonwealth of Nations
Incumbent
Paul Kagame
since 24 June 2022
Term length2 years
Inaugural holderThabo Mbeki
Formation12 November 1999
WebsiteChair-in-Office

The Commonwealth Chair-in-Office (CIO) is the chief executive and presiding officer of the Commonwealth of Nations, and is one of the main leadership positions in the Commonwealth. It is held by the host chairperson of the previous Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), and is maintained until the next CHOGM.[1]

List of Chairs-in-Office

Elizabeth II (1999–present)

# Name Country Title CHOGM Start End
1 Thabo Mbeki South Africa South Africa President 1999 12 November 1999 2 March 2002
2 John Howard Australia Australia Prime Minister 2002 2 March 2002 5 December 2003
3 Olusegun Obasanjo Nigeria Nigeria President 2003 5 December 2003 25 November 2005
4 Lawrence Gonzi Malta Malta Prime Minister 2005 25 November 2005 23 November 2007
5 Yoweri Museveni Uganda Uganda President 2007 23 November 2007 27 November 2009
6 Patrick Manning[2] Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister 2009 27 November 2009 25 May 2010[2]
7 Kamla Persad-Bissessar[3] None[3] 26 May 2010[3] 28 October 2011
8 Julia Gillard Australia Australia Prime Minister 2011 28 October 2011 27 June 2013
9 Kevin Rudd None 27 June 2013 18 September 2013
10 Tony Abbott None 18 September 2013 15 November 2013
11 Mahinda Rajapaksa Sri Lanka Sri Lanka President 2013 15 November 2013 9 January 2015
12 Maithripala Sirisena None 9 January 2015 27 November 2015
13 Joseph Muscat Malta Malta Prime Minister 2015 27 November 2015 19 April 2018
14 Theresa May United Kingdom United Kingdom Prime Minister 2018 19 April 2018 24 July 2019
15 Boris Johnson None 24 July 2019 24 June 2022
16 Paul Kagame Rwanda Rwanda President 2022 24 June 2022 Present

References

  1. ↑ "Our History". The Commonwealth. The Commonwealth. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Staff writer (28 May 2010). "Former Trinidad PM Manning resigns as political leader". CaribbeanNetNews. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2010. Trinidad and Tobago's former prime minister Patrick Manning has handed in his resignation as political leader of the People's National Movement (PNM), three days after being defeated at the polls.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Staff writer (29 May 2010). "Kamla now Commonwealth Chair". Trinidad and Tobago Newsday. Retrieved 29 May 2010. The position she has inherited from former prime minister Patrick Manning following the nation's hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in November, 2009. In a statement issued yesterday, the Royal Commonwealth Society congratulated Persad-Bissessar on her appointment as Prime Minister and also praised the conduct of her election campaign.